Thinking about moving to New York City? Check out what's available.

Why Some New Yorkers Aren't Excited About Amazon HQ2

Cities around the nation participated in the bidding frenzy for Amazon's next headquarters. When New York City won, mayor Bill DeBlasio and governor Andrew Cuomo extolled the benefits of the corporate giant setting up shop in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City. But despite the excitement from local and state government, not all New Yorkers have shared in the enthusiasm.

Many are highly critical and even downright angry about the move, sharing concerns that Amazon's arrival — and the $2.8 billion tax incentive they're being given – will serve the corporation at the expense of New Yorkers.

Here are some of the points being made by critics of Amazon HQ2 coming to Long Island City.

Infrastructure is an issue that affects us all.

It's no secret that New York's public transit system has seen better days. In June 2017, Cuomo declared the system in a state of emergency due to the coalescence of environmental damage and neglect leading to major issues with overcrowding, delays, and generally unreliable and erratic infrastructure. (If you already live in NYC, you're probably all too familiar with this reality.)

Infrastructure improvements have been promised as part of the city's offering to Amazon to help offset the influx of tens of thousands of people moving to LIC. This is being funded through "payments in lieu of taxes," or PILOTs, made by Amazon in exchange for their tax break. About half of the PILOTs, or $600 million over the next 40 years, will be devoted to improving public transportation.

But given the current state of the MTA, there are reasonable doubts as to whether the resources allotted will be able to effectively offset the changes in traffic and keep the public transit system from getting worse than it already is for commuters. For perspective: the MTA is still recovering from the estimated $4.7 billion worth of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012, and the L train is scheduled to shut down for over a year starting this coming spring of 2019. All of this is merely to point out that NYC's public transit system doesn't exactly have a track record of quick and effective repairs.

Additionally, this "infrastructure fund" is being criticized from a political standpoint. Rather than pay taxes to the city, the collection of which can be used to benefit infrastructure wherever the city sees fit, the PILOT money will be directed toward changes that directly benefit Amazon, not the city in general. The corporation is essentially being allowed to tell the city how to use its money — a privilege not generally afforded to taxpayers.

There are doubts over the supposed financial benefit.

The state and city governments have touted the supposed 9 to 1 return that investing in Amazon will supposedly bring — a $2.8 billion tax break that will generate $27 billion in new tax money over the next 25 years. But some economic analysts cast doubt on those figures.

Some economic researchers point out that the financial model used to get those numbers does not adequately take the costs into account, like education for the children of employees, sanitation services, and other standard public services.

Others point out that LIC is already a fast-growing neighborhood that was likely going to see significant development even without Amazon's arrival. Plus, some question whether Amazon could have been brought to NYC with a less extravagant offering, pointing out that Facebook and Google, two other tech giants, already have headquarters in New York without being given the massive tax breaks offered to Amazon.

Some New Yorkers simply feel that they've been sold out.

All of these doubts considered, will Amazon really create the tens of thousands of high-paying jobs they're projected to? And will those jobs go to people already in New York, or new transplants? Some NYC taxpayers are just upset that over $2 billion of city and state funds are being handed to a corporate giant moving in from out of state.

For one thing, there's the issue of gentrification: The sudden arrival of a big corporate campus certainly won't help current LIC residents hoping to remain in their homes. Real estate prices are already being driven up in anticipation of rapid neighborhood changes, which generally leads to current renters being pushed out in favor of those who can pay more.

Finally, some have raised the issue that if the city and state wanted to devote billions of dollars to business incentives, that money could have gone to business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs already based in New York City for the creation of jobs and upward economic mobility for longtime residents.

But like it or not, it seems that Amazon's next headquarters is on its way to New York for sure. Here’s hoping the corporation and its employees will at least display some sensitivity to the detrimental effects residents fear they'll cause.

Thinking about moving into your first apartment, but worried about moving costs? Use Doorsteps to search for cost-effective rentals near you!